Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Happy New Year!
Thank you everyone for warm Happy New Years wishes. Slightly belated, but still very heartfelt best wishes to you too…
Yes, this was yet another New Year.
Yes, I’m still Russian, so it was still a big deal (see last year's entry for details on the bigness of it :-) ). Same movie. Family surrounding. Big dinner.
The difference – a completely vegetarian dinner. And the concept was so shocking to some, that they showed up with their own food… (My parents). But we were purely veggie. And there was tons of healthy veggie food. But by the time I thought of snapping a picture, most was already gone. So no pictures of the stuffed cabbage (I should’ve taken it… it was so impressive…). Or mock “shuba”. Or mayonnaiseless potato salad. Or layered baked veggies terrin. You’ll just have to believe me it was good :-)
I have to say though -- this holiday season has been exhausting. First of all, two kids… Secondly, one of them understanding about Santa. So, obviously, doing all Santa’s work, and getting zero credit. Then there was trying to figure out how to explain that Santa comes on Christmas, and Grandpa Frost, who’s sort of Santa, comes on New Years. We haven’t worked out the kinks in the system yet. And I just can’t give up on good old Grandpa. Not to mention that he’s the one in all the Russian cartoons and programs saturating our holiday TV menu… We better figure it out by next year, or the kids will need therapy…
And now, all I really want to do is sleep. One day of peace, quiet and snooze. No cooking. No cleaning. No gift shopping/wrapping/thinking/planning/paying. No decorating/undecorating. Nothing. I want life to be normal, boring and routine. For at least a couple of days. So I can catch my breath and regain the rhythm. This is not real me talking. This is the zombied out exhausted version the day after New Years’ events. Cause when you have kids, even though you stay up late to celebrate – you still get up on their schedule. Somehow I sort of forgot about that.
But I still love the holiday season. Reminds me to rekindle the kid inside. I love reading cards. And getting gifts. And putting up the lights on the Christmas tree. And now seeing the excitement on my son’s face when he finds out that Santa ate the cookie and left him gifts. He believes in magic without even realizing it. Magic is so normal to children, that it makes me wonder if we, the adults, are the ones who got it all wrong.
So, even though belatedly, allow me to wish that this year brings you all the magic in the world. And that the kid inside you, that very kid that still believes in it, always shines through your eyes.
Cheers!
Vasilisa
